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The Good News About David Horowitz (re: Reparations Debate)
Boundless.org ^ | 1/23/02 | David Orland

Posted on 01/26/2002 8:07:32 AM PST by veronica

A review of David Horowitz’ Uncivil Wars: The Controversy Over Reparations for Slavery, Encounter Books (San Francisco, 2002)

Before Sept. 11, the biggest story to hit campuses in 2001 was the Horowitz Affair. In February of last year, 60s-radical-turned-conservative-journalist David Horowitz attempted to place a full-page advertisement in student papers at a number of prestigious colleges and universities. The ad, entitled "Ten Reasons Why Reparations Is [sic] a Bad Idea for Blacks — and Racist Too", consisted of a series of sensible (if inevitably provocative) arguments against the idea that black Americans should be paid reparations for the enslavement of their ancestors.

The upshot of Horowitz’ effort is no doubt still fresh in the minds of many. Of the papers Horowitz contacted about his ad, most refused to run it. Several of those that did run the ad, however, quickly apologized to their readers for having become, in the words of Daily Californian editor Daniel Hernandez, "an inadvertent vehicle for bigotry". Hernandez was hardly alone in these sentiments. Increasingly as the weeks passed and the controversy snowballed, a consensus grew on campus: Horowitz was hurting feelings; Horowitz must be stopped.

There followed the usual left-wing crime spree: editors intimidated, news rooms invaded, print runs stolen and destroyed. To his credit, Horowitz did not back down. On the contrary, he embarked on a national speaking tour in defense of his views.

By early March, the controversy over reparations had gained the attention of the national media. On both left and right, the Horowitz Affair (as it was quickly dubbed) was covered as a debate over free speech. And it certainly was that. What student protesters were demanding was nothing short of the suppression of speech with which they disagreed. Rather than take up Horowitz’ challenge and produce reasons of their own in favor of reparations, minority student groups, with the collusion of campus administrators, sought to silence him by resorts to force and cries of "outrage." While conservative writers (this one included) seized hold of the Horowitz Affair as yet another opportunity to denounce double standards on campus, the liberal press did its best to change the subject.

Was anyone really talking about reparations before Horowitz brought it up? some wondered in annoyance (yes, they were). Were conservatives really as interested in free speech as they claimed? asked others such as Salon's David Mazel.

Yet, in the midst of all this controversy, the idea of reparations itself was somehow lost. And this, of course, is precisely what the ad’s critics wanted. As Horowitz writes in Uncivil Wars: The Controversy Over Reparations for Slavery, his just-released account of last Spring’s campaign against reparations: "Despite the ruckus that the ad had caused, its ‘Ten Reasons’ had not really been answered, or even addressed.

Instead, its opponents had launched a vitriolic attack on the character of those who stood in their path. The radicals applied the epithets ‘racist’ and ‘bigot’ not only to anyone who supported my ideas, but also to those who printed them or defended my right to express them. The ideas themselves were stigmatized as an infection the campus must mobilize to repel."

And yet, as I wrote at the time of the controversy, there is on the face of it nothing offensive about Horowitz’ ad. Indeed, each of Horowitz’ "Ten Reasons" is sensible and pertinent. Taken together, they represent a powerful case for what every reasonable person already knows: that the idea of reparations for slavery is one of the most ludicrous and offensive ideas in the already-sizable book of ludicrous and offensive ideas.

To cite just a few of the reasons offered by Horowitz against reparations: While reparations have been paid to victim groups in the past, there is no precedent for paying reparations to the descendants of victim groups. But even if there were such a precedent, those who would wind up paying reparations — that is, American taxpayers — are overwhelmingly descended from people who never owned slaves. How can one justify asking them to pay reparations for a crime of which neither they nor their ancestors are guilty?

Think about it; it really is a bizarre idea. Imagine serving time for a crime that your next-door neighbor’s maternal great-grandfather committed against the maternal great-grandfather of the guy who lives down the street. There you have the case for reparations. No wonder Horowitz’ critics were reluctant to meet him in debate.

More generally, the idea that this generation of white Americans owes this generation of black Americans reparations for a crime that neither group willed and that ended over 140 years ago is both divisive and, in the long run, politically disastrous.

To insist that white Americans owe black Americans for slavery is to endorse the view that white America (as well as Asian-America, Latino America, etc.) is morally compromised solely by virtue of skin color and without any regard for present realities. Doesn’t such a view amount to the lewdest kind of racism? As Horowitz puts it in Uncivil Wars:

Americans do not think of themselves as racists or oppressors, and there is no reason they should. America was a pioneer in the fight against slavery, and in establishing the first multiracial society in human history. During the last half-century Americans have voted equal rights to African-American citizens and supported massive compensations to African-Americans and others who have lagged behind. To be indicted after such efforts, and in these unrelenting terms, is offensive and insulting. The reparations movement, in short, was doomed from the outset.

The most it


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 01/26/2002 8:07:32 AM PST by veronica
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To: veronica
That's silly. That's like whites asking blacks to pay up for the costs of the civil war that freed them.
2 posted on 01/26/2002 8:10:31 AM PST by BrooklynGOP
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To: BrooklynGOP, dennisw, johnhuang2, lent, college repub, long cut, hockey pop
What is scary is what colleges have turned into. The very places that should promote open debate shutting it down with an iron fist.
3 posted on 01/26/2002 8:30:42 AM PST by veronica
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To: veronica
The very places that should promote open debate shutting it down with an iron fist.

Yep. That's "diversity" for ya. Have to shut up and be sensitive to irrational demands of others.

4 posted on 01/26/2002 8:39:16 AM PST by BrooklynGOP
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To: veronica
The reparations for slavery was/is a handy vehicle for American Blacks to whine even louder and stir up the activists who make money on racism. Horowitz cut its legs off, however, if you've read Bias, Bernard Goldberg's superb book, you can clearly see when it has been a slow day at the various media desks. If they can't find something to write about they turn to the Clinton's and American Blacks for silly stories.
5 posted on 01/26/2002 8:55:14 AM PST by yoe
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To: BrooklynGOP
That's "diversity" for ya.

According to Thomas Sowell, the academic ideal of "diversity" is achieved when everybody on campus looks different...but thinks exactly alike.

6 posted on 01/26/2002 9:03:39 AM PST by okie01
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To: veronica
The very places that should promote open debate shutting it down with an iron fist

Well, at least here at the University of Chicago, one of the noisy rabble protesting David Horowitx, after being warned to desist interrupting his speech, was hand-cuffed and led away.
7 posted on 01/26/2002 9:27:42 AM PST by aruanan
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To: veronica
I know the constitution prohibits punishment by "corruption of blood" ( familial descent ) concerning treason.
Are there any lawyer types out there that can explain whether corruption of blood prohibitions would apply to reparations?
Other criminal acts by individuals or the nation?
8 posted on 01/26/2002 9:30:22 AM PST by Drammach
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To: veronica
And this in a nutshell is what the Fascist Left and their propaganda organs -- the media and U.S. University professors are all about -- the repression of the absolute truth, genuine free speech, and psychological enslavement of Conservative thought and the liberties envisioned by our American Forefathers....

They deserve to be buried in their own putrid ideological slop-pit.

9 posted on 01/26/2002 9:30:31 AM PST by Liberator
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To: veronica
Rather than take up Horowitz’ challenge and produce reasons of their own in favor of reparations, minority student groups, with the collusion of campus administrators, sought to silence him by resorts to force and cries of "outrage."

That's exactly what I saw at the University of Delaware when I attended Horowitz's appearance there.

10 posted on 01/26/2002 9:33:01 AM PST by Doctor Raoul
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To: veronica
BUMP for DAvid Horowitz, a Warrior for the Right, a warrior for the USA.
11 posted on 01/26/2002 9:41:16 AM PST by FReethesheeples
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To: FReethesheeples
David Horowitz’ Uncivil Wars: The Controversy Over Reparations for Slavery, Encounter Books (San Francisco, 2002)

I think this should be the next book to be FREEPED to the top on the Best Sellers list, ala "BIAS" and "THE FINAL DAYS".

12 posted on 01/26/2002 9:54:02 AM PST by codercpc
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To: veronica
Could someone explain to me how it is not considered bigoted and biased and maybe even RACIST to call all Republicans evil? We should call ourselves a minority and demand fair treatment!
13 posted on 01/26/2002 4:09:26 PM PST by SouthCarolinaKit
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To: veronica
It would be interesting if Horowitz listed all the schools that rejected the ad and their reasoning. I heard Horowitz on WorldNetDaily radio and was mad to find out that my school, UC Davis, also rejected the ad. I guess they don't need my support.
It's only free speech if it's something they agree with.
14 posted on 01/26/2002 4:13:17 PM PST by patriot5186
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To: veronica
I have no doubt that should reparations be paid, we will have another Civil War. This will be the preverbial "Straw That Broke the Camel's Back."

Except for a few ultra fanatics, the American people have bent over backwards to show equality towards blacks. Which is, I believe, as it should be. But it is the blacks who are keeping the racial divide in the forefront and fanning the fires, not whites. I'm am so tired of hearing them whine and complain. It's about time they used that energy productively.

15 posted on 01/26/2002 6:52:30 PM PST by 3catsanadog
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To: Liberator
That's why people in the know aren't afraid to say that economically we are capitalist but culturally America is Marxist.
16 posted on 01/26/2002 6:54:08 PM PST by 3catsanadog
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To: 3catsanadog
"People in the know" also "know" America is indelibly and undoubtedly heading toward Civil War II if American Marxism continues unabated. That is why the NRA, and Christians are demonized and attacked evermore in the media and by the Left -- the two entities Janet Reno deemed "dangerous" and standing in the way of her ilk.
17 posted on 01/27/2002 3:15:43 PM PST by Liberator
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To: codercpc
RE-bump for David's newest book: "Uncivil Wars." (Full title on your post # 12, thanks!)

He's a good friend.

18 posted on 01/27/2002 4:20:56 PM PST by FReethesheeples
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